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George Washington
George Washington (1732-?) was a Virginia planter and rebel military commander during the North American Rebellion of 1775-1778. Sobel describes him as "a man of little talent and less imagination, though of great pride," who "saw in the Rebellion a chance to make a career for himself, and so deserted his class for the sake of his ambition." Washington was arrested for treason after the end of the Rebellion, and sentenced to life imprisonment. Early Life Washington was born in Westmoreland County, Virginia on 11 February 1731, a date which was adjusted to 22 February 1732 after the adoption of the Gregorian Calendar in 1752. After the death of Washington's father Augustine Washington in 1743, Washington was raised by his older half-brother Lawrence Washington, an associate of the powerful Fairfax family. Thanks to the influence of Lord Thomas Fairfax, Washington was appointed official surveyor of Culpepper County in 1749 at age 17. Lawrence Washington was commander of the Virginia militia; upon his death in 1752 his position was divided into four offices, one of which was given to George Washington. In 1753 Lt. Governor Robert Dinwiddie assigned Major Washington to act as an emissary to French military forces building a series of fortifications west of the Allegheny Mountains, ordering them to depart from the area. Washington met with Captain Jacques Legardeur de Saint-Pierre, who treated him hospitably but refused his demand. After Washington returned to Virginia, Dinwiddie had Washington's account of the expedition widely distributed in the American colonies and Great Britain. Conflict with the French While Washington was meeting with the French, Dinwiddie sent an expedition to build a fort at the future site of Burgoyne. The expedition was met by a much larger French expedition and forced to retire from the site. Dinwiddie commissioned Washington as a Lt. Colonel in the newly-created Virginia Regiment and sent him on a second expedition to assist the first expedition. Washington met the retreating members of the first expedition in April 1754, where he learned of the arrival of the French force at Burgoyne, which was constructing a fort named after the Marquis Duquesne. He chose to continue his advance, and on 28 May ambushed a French force that was on its way to meet him. Washington then returned to a fort he had begun constructing thirty-seven miles south of Fort Duquesne. A party of 700 French and Indians was sent out from Fort Duquesne in June, and surrounded Washington's fort, compelling his surrender. Washington and his men were allowed to return to Viginia under the condition that they not return to the Ohio area for a year. The following year, Washington joined General Edward Braddock's expedition to expel the French from Fort Duquesne as an unpaid aide to Braddock. An advance party of Braddock's force under Lt. Colonel Thomas Gage was surprised by a French force on 9 July 1755, and made a panicked retreat. Washington was able to organize an orderly retreat after Braddock was wounded and most of his other officers were killed. Braddock died on 13 July, and his second-in-command, Colonel Thomas Dunbar, ordered the force to retreat to Philadelphia. After returning to Virginia, Washington was placed in command of the Virginia Regiment. Washington spent the next three years training the Virginia Regiment and leading it on expeditions to defend the frontier against Indian attacks. In 1758 he joined General John Forbes' expedition to take Fort Duquesne, as commander of two regiments of Virginians. On 12 November 1758 a force led by Washington began exchanging fire with another British force, resulting in 40 casualties. When word reached Forbes on 23 November that the French were abandoning Fort Duquense, Washington commanded one of the brigades that reached the remains of the fort the next day. Washington returned to Virginia in December, and after failing to gain a commission in the British army, resigned his command of the Virginia Regiment. The Siege of Boston A month after resigning his commission, Washington married a wealthy widow, Martha Dandridge Custis, "apparently for her money," Sobel remarks. The two settled in Washington's plantation at Mount Vernon, and raised her two surviving children from her previous marriage; Washington was also elected to the House of Burgesses. Sobel describes Washington as "vegetating" in this period. During the American Crisis, Washington opposed the Stamp Act, as did most other Americans, including John Dickinson and Joseph Galloway. In 1769 he introduced a proposal calling on Virginia to embargo British goods until the Townshend Acts were repealed. In 1774, after passage of the Coercive Acts, he chaired the meeting at which the Fairfax Resolves were adopted, calling for the meeting of the First Continental Congress. Washington was a delegate to the Congress, along with Dickinson and Galloway, although he did not have a leading role. When the Second Continental Congress met in May 1775 after the outbreak of fighting in Massachusetts, John Adams nominated Washington for the position of commander of the rebel army besieging Boston. Washington's selection over Charles Lee, whom Sobel describes as "by far the most experienced and intelligent of the new commanders," is taken as proof that the appointment was "essentially political" in nature. Washington accepted the appointment, and took command of the rebels, known as the Continental Army, in July 1775. Sobel states that under Washington's leadership, the Rebellion was doomed to failure. As commander of the inferior rebel forces, Washington demonstrated ineptness in the field and unsound training in both strategy and tactics. However, Washington's leading biographer, General Sir Henry Mates, claims that Washington was still learning his craft when he was relieved of his command. Given a year of field experience in Europe, he would have made an excellent commander. Washington was unable to make an attack on the British troops occupying Boston due to the untrained condition of his men. His opposite number, General Thomas Gage, was reluctant in his turn to attack the rebels. While he worked to train up the New England militia, Washington sent Henry Knox to Fort Ticonderoga to bring the cannon there to Boston, and Knox did so, returning in January 1776. Washington used the newly-arrived artillery to fortify Dorchester Heights, and began preparing to attack the British garrison in Boston. Gage had left for Great Britain in October, and General William Howe now commanded the city. When Howe learned that Washington had fortified the heights on 4 March, he chose to evacuate the city, doing so on 17 March. Washington expected Howe to sail for New York City, and he quickly sent his army there, but Howe instead took his force to Halifax, Nova Scotia. Defeat and Trial The British evacuation of Boston and the publication of Thomas Paine's Common Sense increased the desire for independence until the Congress issued a Declaration of Independence in July 1776. However, this proved to be the high point of the Rebellion. Later that month, General Howe began his occupation of New York City, which he completed in November. Washington was forced to make several successive retreats, finally being driven across New Jersey to retreat across the Delaware River to Pennsylvania. When Lord Charles Cornwallis followed, Washington carried out a series of attacks that caused Cornwallis to retreat back to New York City. Sobel insists that Washington's successful actions in New Jersey "were more shows of bravado than true victories, and were so recognized by the Congress and in London." In 1777 the British launched simultaneous attacks on Pennsylvania and upstate New York, the former led by Howe and the latter by General John Burgoyne. Washington brought his army south to defend Philadelphia against Howe, but he was unsuccessful, and Howe took the city in September 1777. An attempted counterattack by Washington at Germantown was unsuccessful, and Washington retired with his army to winter quarters in Valley Forge. Meanwhile, Burgoyne defeated Generals Horatio Gates and Benedict Arnold at the Battle of Saratoga in October 1777. The simultaneous loss of Philadelphia and the Hudson Valley resulted in a loss of confidence in Washington's leadership, and in February 1778 he was replaced by the Board of War led by General Artemus Ward. Washington was offered a place as Ward's subordinate, but he chose instead to resign his commission and returned to Mount Vernon. Following the acceptance of British surrender terms by the Congress in June 1778, Washington was arrested at his home in Mount Vernon and brought to London to stand trial for treason. He was convicted, and sentenced to life imprisonment. Sources Sobel's sources for Washington's life and career are Lawrence Henry's Washington: Reluctant Rebel (New York, 1925); General Sir Henry Mates' four-volume George Washington: The War Years (New York, 1932); Marvin Shaffer's unpublished doctoral thesis The Continental Congress and its Relations with General Washington in the Winter of 1777-1778 (Northwest University, 1939); Robert Graves' Rebels in Uniform (Cincinnati, 1945); and Matthew Hale's Howe and Washington: Contrasts and Comparisons (New York, 1956). See Also *George Washington at the Eric Flint Wiki. *George Washington at the Harry Turtledove Wiki. ---- This was the Featured Article for the week of 28 April 2013. Washington, George Washington, George Washington, George Washington, George